A Famine of the Heart

When we think of the word famine, we think of an extreme scarcity of food. But in Amos 8:11, we read of a different kind of famine: “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord God, ‘When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But […]

Go!

How willing are you to leave the safety and security of your home or church or work to go where the Lord leads you? How inclined would you be to go if you were also told, “By the way, there’s this group of people waiting to devour you.” I’m not so sure I would be […]

Seeking God About What Ails Us

“No one can help us if we don’t first open up about the hurt we feel inside. “

Excuse Me, Where Can I Find Jesus?

People are searching today for meaning in their life. The question is if they can find Jesus. When people visit your church do they say, “The Lord is there.” When people visit your home do they say, “The Lord is there.” When people spend time with you do they say, “The Lord is there.” In […]

A River of Hope in Our Communities

In Ezekiel 40-47:11. Ezekiel is shown visions of the temple of God. What struck me about this passage was the description in Ezekiel 47:1-12 where Ezekiel is shown water “coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar (verse 1).” The water starts as a trickle from the altar and […]

The Creation of Hope in the Void

Without God, our life is formless and empty. We hover over the surface of the deep, the pit of despair. Deep in our darkness we cannot see, but the Spirit of God is there, hovering over the surface. God is our hope. He brings order to our formless and empty life. In our darkness we […]

Trusting the Long View of God.

It can be difficult waiting on God to respond to our needs. Often our impatience is born out of our expectations that God will respond according to our plans and schedule. This is what we see in Exodus 5:1-23 where Moses followed God’s request to return to Egypt to ask Pharaoh to release the Israelites. […]

Sensing the Beauty of God’s Creation in Our Soul

If we only look at the world around us through the eyes of our accomplishments and selfish desires, we will miss seeing the true author of life. God’s love for us is evident in the world he has placed us in.

Shared Suffering, Shared Faith

Suffering is a part of life in this world. It is difficult to understand the reason we experience pain and grief. Like Job, we wrestle with why we experience anguish — trauma that causes us to cry out as Job did: “If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on […]

A Soothing Touch for Our Parched Soul

The cancer had ravaged her body, taken away all her strength, and now it was taking her life. She was no longer able to sit up and had been bed-ridden for more than a week. But now I sensed the end was near.